Apprising Azad of the healthcare system in Punjab, Dr Sidhu laid emphasis on formulation of a uniform drug policy to break the nexus between drug manufacturers, drug inspectors, chemists and doctors, an official spokesman said.

She said that maximum price of any drug should not exceed 5% of the actual production cost and MRP of generic drugs. The medicine traders, she said, could earn 200-300% profits on branded drugs because multinational companies were buying generic drugs at very low price and selling the same under their brand names at exorbitant prices.

She, therefore, suggested that doctors should prescribe branded drugs with only least profit margins in case generic drugs were not available in their hospitals.

Dr Sidhu said that the state government was already taking strict measures to handle drug addiction. The de-addiction counselling centres would be promoted on a mass scale across the state, she said.

In the medical education curriculum, she suggested the inclusion of psychiatry as a major subject at the MBBS level.

She also urged the union health minister to formulate more rigorous rules in checking quacks and female foeticide.